Do you have an emerging teen in your home? What’s your parenting style like?
Over the past two years the Victorian Parents Council has been fortunate to host students from Macquarie University’s PACE program. The students have undertaken research on the joys and challenges of modern parents with emerging teens. In this excerpt we look at the importance of “parenting style.”
Parents play critical roles in the upbringing of their children during the adolescent years. The effects of various parenting styles have been shown to affect individuals in all stages of life with some effects including emotion regulation, empathy, brain development and physical health. (Kirby, 2019). Parenting styles could be categorised into four main types; authoritarian, authoritative, permissive and uninvolved (Lavric & Naterer, 2020). Authoritative parenting is conceptualised by high demand, control and warmth towards their children which results in children possessing high self-reliance, self-control and independence (Baumrind, 1971). Similarly, the authoritarian parenting style is also characterised by high control and demand towards their children. However, the authoritarian parenting style lacks the emotional warmth as seen in authoritative parenting (Lavric, Naterer, 2020). Permissive parenting is associated with low control and demand but high warmth towards their children and finally neglectful parenting is associated with low control and demand as well as low warmth (Kirby, 2019).
Suggestions for Parents:
- Aim have clear rules and behaviour goals for your children coupled with high emotional warmth and care for the child
- Programs such as the Positive Parenting Program (PPP), can help you brush up on some effective parenting techniques
- Stay emotionally “in tune” with your children by setting aside regular intervals for discussion about “life, the good and the challenges.”
- Remember: compassion and sensitivity have a positive impact on your child’s mental health
